Sunday, December 27, 2009

This slightly belated podcast is a little mixtape of Holiday music that isn't super cringey and hopefully not overplayed in shops during this most craziest of seasons... Handy for a little festive get together, mix with booze & egg nog for full effect. Happy Holidays y'all.

I know it's a full two days late... but I do have an excuse other than taking a Christmas vacation (I did that too). I've spent the last few weeks in the isolated surrounds of the Navajo Reservation & in Telluride, Colorado - which is a teensy town atop a huge mountain. Needless to say, internet was not on the menu - and who was I to argue. So I sit now in Phoenix Airport, taking advantage of the free WiFi to finally bring to you my Holiday mix. I've only created an mp3 version this week (blame the laziness on over-indulging) however, you can find all tracks below.Download Friday Mixtape #34 - Merry Christmas here, or listen straight away in the player below

Friday, December 18, 2009

This week's mix is close to home... literally. It's all about the family - I'm home with my family and I imagine a lot of people will soon be with their family, or at least their adopted family. I'm gonna get a bit personal with this mix, dedicating it to my dad who just got great news regarding a recent health scare.

Anyways, you'll quickly figure out the little theme I've got going on, family, Daddy, Mother, Sister, Baby... you get the picture. Luckily there are some great tracks that feature these lil family themes. It's all a bit retro, a bit rockin, a bit sentimental without being too cheesy, well except for maybe Abba, to which I apologize in advance for, although we both know, they're a guilty pleasure. Hey, call home you! Your mom & dad love you!Download the enhanced m4a version here,or just listen in the player below.Friday Mixtape 33 - We're A Happy Family by jessieloveaction

Friday, December 11, 2009

This week's mix is a little unusual in the sense that it is melancholy-tinged manic-pop; Two styles which normally don't mix. Everyone I come across lately seems in a strangely similar mood - everything around us is full of doom & gloom, yet with this weird manic streak... With the cold cold winter, the recession, the floods, the budget, and everyone being broke... but Christmas and a new decade on the horizon, it's strangely hopeful. I thought I'd try and capture that mood with a mix. Here's to spending your last dime on some Druids cider and dancing through that dark cold night til the sun peeps out of them clouds.

Friday, December 4, 2009

This week's mix is a bit strange... uplifting yet dark, a bit twinkly and warm with fuzzy guitars and swinging hips and booming synth raptures before finishing up with a walk through memories of teenage love. It makes me feel like donning a fringey shift dress and going barefoot on shag carpet doing bad renditions of long lost dances... It's all very cozy and atmospheric and a perfect winter treat for weekend shut-ins who want to sup wine and boogie with their mates.

Friday, November 27, 2009

This week's mix is a bit of cheeky fun and frolix. A lil bit of a nod of thanks to the 80s for the music of today, with a couple of fun covers thrown in for good measure. As usual, chock full of pop & electro to keep your head nodding throughout the day - or at least for a half hour.Download the fancy m4a version by right-clicking hereOr you can listen straight away in the player below.

Included in the mix this week:1. Pulp - Do You Remember the First Time2. Mystery Jets - Young Love (The Shoes Remix)3. The Twelves - Works For Me4. Pyramiddd - Rawnald Gregory Erickson the 2nd (Strategy Remix)5. Corey Hart - Sunglasses At Night6. Vampire Weekend - Everywhere7. The Waitresses - I Know What Boys Like8. Modern English - I Melt With You9. Papercuts - A Dictator's Lament10. Lou Barlow - Bulletproof

Friday, November 20, 2009

Can you believe another Friday has come and gone? Apologies for those in Greenwich Mean Time that this mix is getting to them a bit late in the day, but maybe it's for the best, as it's sort of getting ready to go out music mix. A bit stomping, a bit electro... a dollop of girly-sing-into-hairbrush stylings going on. Go on, it's Friday, make out with that hot stranger eying you up from across the room. I dare ya.right-click here to download the enhanced .m4a podcastor simply listen straight away in the player below

Sunday, November 15, 2009

This week's mixtape is a few days late as life has a funny way of getting in the way of hobbies. For me, this Friday ended up being probably one of the lowest in my life for both personal and professional reasons so it's only now that I'm getting my head out of the sand.

Quite a weird mix of tunes this week any ways, Mostly new tracks from bands I'm finding myself interested in, with a few 80s songs thrown in for good measure. It's a bit of an indie dance rock party. Woop! Hope you enjoy, and do check out all the bands featured as they're really worth paying attention to.right-click here to download the enhanced .m4a podcast.Or just listen now in the player below:

Friday, November 6, 2009

As mentioned last week, I was recently on holiday, which included a five-day jaunt to Sin City... hence this week's mix: Viva Las Vegas!

Now I'll admit, I'm not much of a fan of the Vegas of today, but I love the idea of vintage Vegas; that classy sleaze, the tuxedo-&-diamond-wearing crowd pulling up to the valet in their giant Caddies complete with tail fins. Bunny girls serving cocktails, crooners walking through the crowd with tiny gold mics...

So in that vein, this mix is in honor of the old Vegas, mostly vintage, full of cheesy horns and of course, Elvis. Think of this mix as my very own Neon Boneyard... Enjoy!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Apologies for a belated mixtape... for I was on my holidaze, and that included a much needed holiday from computers and the innernet. However, I've used my vacation as inspiration.

This week's podcast needs little explanation. Who doesn't love New York? I no longer live there, but the handful of years I spent there will likely stay in my heart forever. Of course, having visited there last week, I was inspired to put it all together in a bonus double length mix.

In a way, putting together a mix that fully encapsulates New York is nearly an impossible task as it has so many neighborhoods, personalities, histories... I suppose this mix is slightly more focused on those early genres which were spawned from the great dark underground depths of the giant, constantly changing machine that is New York. It's a little bit of an idealised memory of the place, before it turned into the commercial and glistening metropolis that it is now. It still amazes me how influential it is, how many new ideas are born there every day especially when it comes to music. The music which patiently reflects the feeling and the constant changes that take place - waiting until those new sounds explode worldwide.

Friday, October 9, 2009

This week's mix is puh-retty much made up of brand new indie/dance/pop... only a couple of songs that don't have that new song smell, but are boppable nonetheless.

They're all pretty feel-good as well, hopefully to brighten your spirits away from the imminent damp & cold winter that's closing in. Plus, it's Friday, that means the weekend is about to begin... and who could argue with that?

Friday, October 2, 2009

This week we're going a bit electro-organy-fuzz. It's late noughties meets the 60s with a little nod to the 80s there at the end. Once again pointing out that old addage, the more things change, the more they stay the same. It's a collection of tracks that will get your head nodding and your bum wiggling in that chair of yours. Sit down boogie music; background buzz; air-keytar magic.

You can subscribe to the mixtape via iTunes where it'll be downloaded to your player automatically each week, if you prefer to subscribe or download the mp3 version of the mixtape, you can do so at loveactionmixtape.blogspot.com

Once again, I'm afraid iMix isn't working for me, but because I'm feeling generous with my time, I've added links on the tracks above to where you can find the tracks for download or purchase. Itsa Nice!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Continuing on my theme of music which evokes feeling of a place, this week I'm dedicating my mix to my parents who upped sticks to return to live and work on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.

The mix is big and expansive like the American desert skies. It's mellow, but rolls on into the distance. Driving music for endless highways.

As a young couple in their 20s during the 1970s my parents lived in Many Farms near Canyon de Chelly - now, (in their 60s) they're living in Red Mesa near the four corners. It sounds like they're having quite an adventure living and re-learning about the desert and making the best out of a strange situation.Download the mix in m4a format

Don't forget, that you can subscribe to the mixtape via iTunes where it'll be downloaded to your player automatically each week. Alternatively if you prefer to subscribe or download the mp3 version of the mixtape, you can do so at loveactionmixtape.blogspot.com

Monday, September 21, 2009

This week's mixtape is a bit better late than never, a loud yet dreamy ode to my homeland. Okay, I've never called LA home, but it is the nearest metropolis to where I grew up; loud, brash, punk, hot n dreamy. I tried to capture that sunny-freeway-beachy-kitschy-urban-dried up-glamour that it oozes. This is the soundtrack to long long car journeys, and long lazy afternoons in the dusty hills or sandy seaside. Every time I visit, I ache to just stay. Who knows, I may just call it home in the near future.

Unfortunately for this blog, iTunes changes their layout making it impossible for me to put together an iMix of this mixtape despite the fact that nearly every song is available there. Until I figure it out, if you're looking to purchase the tracks above do a good old fashioned search...

Friday, September 11, 2009

This week I'm going to start something slightly different - this is the first of a series of mixes inspired by destinations.

This week: Love Action Loves Paris....

A francophile mix of music either created or inspired by the City of Lights. Light and breezy, electro dizzy, even a bit hip hop - the city is a mix of culture, the old and the new, the genius and the mad. There were so many brilliant "Paris" songs I wanted to use that I had trouble narrowing it down to just ten songs... so this week, you get fifteen!

Paris is a place that inspires the entire world, and for good reason. This mix is my little musical love letter to Paris.

Friday, September 4, 2009

It's Electric Picnic Time!In honor of Ireland's Favorite Music & Arts Festival I've thrown together a lil mixtape to get you in the mood, as well as help you with the comedown. There were just too many tracks to choose from, so I've included more than my usual 10 tracks - and there's a good few EP artists who didn't make it into the mix but will in the future!

Friday, August 28, 2009

This week's mixtape is another of the foot tapping toe shuffling variety - songs both new and old, that likely sound familiar to many, but also would have a bit of a culty obscure status as well. Summer is cooling off big time, the dark is closing in earlier and earlier. Let's dance with very little clothes while we still can.

Included on the mix this week:1. To Kingdom Come (Artwork Remix) - Passion Pit2. Last Night Changed It All - Esther Williams3. A Minha Menina - Os Mutantes4. 96 Tears - Question Mark and the Mysterians5. Egyptian Shumba - The Tammys6. I'm Still In Love With You - Alton Ellis7. Davy Crockett - South Ambulance8. Never Get Ahead - Bobby Conn9. Shack Up - Banbarra10. Hot Fun In The Summertime - Sly and the Family Stone

Monday, August 24, 2009

I know I've made a point not to use this blog as a platform for opinion; instead it is a place for me, a music-lover, to share music with other music-lovers. That said, I thought that this particular editorial column written by Una (Rocks) Mullally had a particular connection to what I'm doing with this site.

I am fully conscious of the fact that I'm providing music for free of which I don't own the copyright of. However, by giving information about all the songs included on the mixes, as well as links to purchase them, I feel I'm doing my part, or more, to promote some possibly less-well known artists, and encourage the sale of their music - plus I'm not handing out free mp3s of the individual tracks. Una wrote one quote in particular that I loved, as it pointed out something I've always felt about the true music lovers:

"...people who download music illegally aren't complete freeloaders. According to a study by BI Norwegian School of Management illegal downloaders and filesharers buy 10 times more music legitimately than those who don't download illegally. Why? Because people who download large amounts of music are huge music fans, and have no problem parting with their cash for a decent product."

Friday, August 21, 2009

Get out your roller skates and tube socks. No, it's not an over-sexed American Apparel advert, it's today's mixtape!

This week's mix pretty much does what it says on the tin. Songs to force you out of your chair, say "I know this one!" and do that embarrassing boogie-walk to the only space in the room that isn't overrun with stomping pumps and winklepickers. We start with some brand new electro-fied Swedish pop, moving swiftly to some of my favorite roller-disco-freestyle-jamz before finding ourselves sweeping our feet across a packed dance hall holding hands with that young wan we've been eyeing up for ages.

Anyone who grew up in the States in the 80s will know that the likes of Debbie Deb and Patrice Rushen are synonymous with the words "Couples Skate." Awww yeah. When I lived in Brooklyn in the early 2000s myself and my roommate Joanne celebrated our joint-22nd birthdays down the road from our apartment at Empire Roller Skating. It was ah-may-zing. Known as the birthplace of Roller Disco, there were dudes there that looked like they'd been going there every weekend for 25 years. Sadly, the Empire closed - but it lives on forever in glory in a video by my NYU classmates The Rapture. Ahhh... Empire Blvd... Western Beef... livin' the dream.

The Girls track Lust For Life wasn't available on iTunes, but can be downloaded for free on the Nialler 9 blog, and I believe The Knocks Remix of the Peter Bjorn and John track was also available for free via The Hype Machine.

Friday, August 14, 2009

This week, a mellow yet uplifting mix of electronic bleeps and classical strings and harps. Don't ask me why, but these songs prove that somehow blending the unlikely results in some serious heart-swelling, lung filling drama, complete with an 80s triumvirate in honor of the seriously untimely passing of John Hughes, a favorite director of many, including myself. Perfect Friday afternoon music in this little music-heads humble opinion.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

This week I'm a cheaty-mc-cheaterson. Or, well, a person with a life maybe. I've got a wedding in Bristol this week, and therefore am not going to be anywhere near a computer for nearly FIVE WHOLE DAYS. Whoa! Awesome I know. Therefore, no mixtape 17 will not be happenin' this week. But fear not, for I have a solution if you have some kind of an addiction to mixtapes of a Friday.

For those of you "in the know" you'll know that I spend a good bit of my time playing in a band, Talulah Does The Hula. Said band were asked to put together a mixtape for State.ie of all the music which is a bit inspire-y of the kind of music TDTH makes. Actually, when I say "the band" were asked, it's more like I told State's editor that I was going to give him a mix under the banner of Talulah whether he liked it or not. Luckily for me and the band, they seem to have liked it - or at least, not minded it enough to publish it to their site. So instead of an "enhanced m4a" this week, I will instead leave you with "one that I did before". Do be sure to check out the other mixes they've got there on the site. They're pretty much all way better than the badly mixed one I did.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Music has a funny way of pulling at your heart, poking and prodding at the lumpy bumpy memory section in your grey matter.

All the songs this week are a bit rockin, while still strangely mellow. Mostly made up of obscure-ish and dark 80s and 90s, it's night-driving music of the highest order. Imagine glinting evening sun as you drive along the Jersey Turnpike, hand out the window catching the breeze. You're sticky, and your lips are salty. By the time you get to the Manhattan Bridge heading into Brooklyn it's dark and the city is glinting, and the Twin Towers are still there because it's 1999.

Eh? Well, the clutch of songs I've chosen for this week are perhaps a bit gratuitous for me as they're nostalgic and romantic and passionate in a completely personal way. I accidentally came across a song or two which sent me straight into an emotional time warp of around 10 years - I can't explain it other than feeling like a piece of my heart I'd forgotten existed had fallen out into my clutching hands. I became desperate to re-visit those crazy, exciting feelings of discovery and first-time freedoms.

Perhaps I can illustrate in my clumsy way: I was 20, in film school, living in Brooklyn. It was a hot sticky summer, my then-boyfriend and I were obsessed with music, more specifically early Factory & Postcard Records and general post punk. All my friends and flatmates were obsessed with films and photography and music and art. We were all in bands with each other and recorded ourselves in the NYU recording studios as school projects, and played one-off gigs in tiny bars to an audience of three. We all worked on each others 16mm films. We drove to the Jersey Shore and shot super-8 films and got sun-burned and would go into decrepit "Package Stores" to buy beer because we weren't old enough to buy it legally despite our weird miniature adult minds and bodies. We lived in obscenely hot and sweaty apartments filled with cast-off furniture and milk crates, with walls covered in posters and postcards and books and records and VHS tapes. I had no interest in current music, I obsessively bought 80s vinyl or stole them from the WNYU radio station where I had my own weekly show... Myself and the boyfriend would frequent Dick's Bar on 2nd Ave in the hopes to look at Stephin Merritt. Those hot sweaty summers were awful and wonderful and amazing.

This playlist doesn't really quite capture it completely, but The Names song comes pretty close, as does the Magnetic Fields.

Included in the playlist this week is:1. A Gentle Sound - The Railway Children2. Fleeting Moments - Pocketbooks3. Everyday Should Be A Holiday - The Dandy Warhols4. Talking Words - Darker My Love5. Peekaboo - Siouxsie & the Banshees6. 1st Rhapsody for Knives, Forks & Spoons - The Central High School Cafeteria Band7. Life By The Sea - The Names8. Let's Make Some Plans - Close Lobsters9. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - The Smiths10. Absolutely Cuckoo - The Magnetic Fields

Down here you can buy most of the featured tracks... all but the Close Lobsters, who are possibly a bit obscure, but you can purchase the CD via Amazon Marketplace. Also, anyone who is a fan of vinyl, and the Smiths, they have re-issued a good number of their albums. If you live in Dublin I highly recommend heading down to Road Records to get your hands on these babies along with some other hidden gems that stacked among their shelves.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Girls! Girls! Girls! and Boys too! It's a boogie-tastic mixtape this week, Euro-inspired chest-swelling synths and, heart-pounding beats to get you really moving. Don't expect it to calm until the gentle and easy come down at the very very end.

Just goes to show the more things change, the more they stay the same... well, at least musically for the past 75 years at least... That's right, that there first song is not actually Motley Crue, but a song from the 1934 classic 'The Merry Widow'. Told ya this mixtape was diverse.

I also have music blogger Nialler9 to thank for introducing me to two of the gems on today's mix, Marina & The Diamonds & Koko Von Napoo, and in fact the remix of the KVN song is a free download from Niallers site here... sweet eh?

Friday, July 17, 2009

The name of this week's mixtape? Summertime. There can be no question about it, we are right in the midst of my favorite season. The days of having summer break are long behind me, but at least as a grown up, I can enjoy long summer nights & weekends. Here's my musical ode to just that.

The eclectic mish-mash of songs start out with gloriously and unashamedly epic dance beats before descending into a bit of nostalgia brought on by hot weather. As the mix moves on, it gets a bit darker, a bit cooler, like the long summer evenings tend to do. So start out wearing your micro-shorts and flip flops, have a lil dance, and then wrap up warm and cozy around a nice bonfire. The summer only lasts so long, take advantage while you can.

And yes... I've included a song by my own band, but I'm allowed to do that, cuz it's my mixtape. Ha!

Hey guys.... I just discovered that my coding was a bit off last week for my #13 Friday Mixtape, which means that anyone who subscribes in iTunes or some other RSS downloader would have got the wrong file! I've since fixed it, but just in case you already downloaded the wrong file, here's the correct one...

Friday, July 10, 2009

It looks like I'll go ahead and join in today's hype surrounding Ireland's Oxegen festival... and the Summer festival season in general. With this in mind I've put together quite a dance-y, boppy mix which, as usual, spans several genres and decades.

For the Oxegen theme I've included Felix Da Housecat and Pet Shop Boys as bookends. Most of my favorite acts playing Oxegen have already made appearances on this podcast/mixtape, so I've mixed it up a bit from the usual types of tracks, with a bit more proper "dance" acts stuck in - but fear not, for you will still find 80s-tastic tunes, and dirty 60s tracks thrown in for good measure.

I suppose I'm really trying to just capture that mad festival feeling, with songs such as, ahem, bop pills, and no fit state... you see what I mean.

But... along with all the hype surrounding the festival, though I be no music journo, I too, will give you my "Recommended" list, along with links to the mixtapes they've actually been on - though, if you're actually going to the festival... shouldn't you already be there?!?

and here's the usual linx for purchasing the songs... But from iTunes using the widget below... and the ones that aren't on iTunes are... Felix Da Housecat, Cassius, and Mirrors (that last one's freee!)

Who the Frick?

What is it?

Your weekly mixtape of musical Love Action. Each week I put together a mix of ten songs I'm loving at the moment. Expect a lil something every Friday morning which will hopefully put a smile on your face, possibly introduce some music you've never heard, or simply re-introduce some old classics we all love.

Subscribe to the enhanced .m4a podcast using the itunes link above. The enhanced podcast is complete with pretty album art and other "enhancements" especially nice on iPods and other audio visual devices. There's some other subscriber-y links below too. If you prefer good aul non-visual mp3s, you can find them on the sister blog here:loveactionmixtape.blogspot.com

All of the mixes presented on this site are for sampling purposes only. I encourage every music lover to support artists directly. I generally try to include links to where you can purchase the tracks as they are available.